Conversations With A Former Monk

What is it like to be a Tibetan monk in Karnataka? How does a person travel on foot from Tibet to India without a map? What do you do if you get lost while leading a herd of yak?

While traveling through India, I volunteered for a week as a conversational English tutor in Dharamsala so I could get answers to these pressing questions first hand…and give someone the opportunity to practice English. I arranged a series of hour-long lessons with a Tibetan man (a former monk) via the local organization where he was taking computer classes. I basically turned up in town, picked up a volunteer newsletter (Dharamsala is a big traveler destination and is known for volunteer opportunities), and went to the organization in person.

We met in the early evening and sat on pillows on the rooftop – speaking about life in Tibet and India, his journey from Tibet to India, Buddhism, his time as a monk in southern India, and a movie he’d seen recently about a Chinese king. He told me that he thought Indian roads were safer for driving than Tibetan roads (note to self: nix the self-drive through Tibet), and I also learned that in Tibet, it’s not uncommon for two brothers to have the same wife. In fact, his own family consisted of his mother and two brothers – his father and uncle – but he didn’t know which one was his father and which one was his uncle. We also talked about life for women in Tibet and India; he thought women had a harder time in India.

Did the five hours I spent with him improve his English? I don’t really know. But he had an opportunity to practice and I had an opportunity to chat one-to-one with someone with a fascinating background and outlook. To find out more about volunteering in Dharamsala, vist Volunteer Tibet or check out a listing for the Dogga Adult Education Center at Volunteer Match. Teaching experience is required only sometimes, and room and board is only occasionally included.

Doing one-to-one lessons does not necessarily give you a picture of what it’s like to teach a class at a langauge school, but it can be a good introduction to the field of English language teaching. You may also be able to volunteer as a teaching assistant. To find English tutoring opportunities where you live, try Idealist.org and (in the US) Volunteer Match.

And finally…you’ve got your student, but what to talk about? Check out ESL Partyland and the Internet TESL Journal for conversation topics and activities.